Pakistan Security Brief

Prime Minister holds high-level meeting, decides on continuing TTP peace talks; Meeting between government negotiating committee and TTP shura likely within two days; Afghan Taliban brokers cease-fire between TTP factions until August; India tests anti-ballistic missile; Indian troops fire across LoC in Kashmir; U.S. and Pakistan may restart Afghan reconciliation process; Journalist Hamid Mir claims “ISI within ISI” orchestrated attempt on his life; Pakistan receives five fighter jets from Jordan; Dera Ismail Khan prison break “mastermind” killed in Peshawar; Three dead in Karachi grenade attack; Police kill LeJ commander in Karachi; Twenty dead and 17 injured in dispute in North Waziristan; North Waziristan bomb attack kills three soldiers; Six dead in attack on NATO tanker in Khyber agency; Bomb blast kills one peace militia member in Khyber agency; Residents flee Bara, Khyber agency after LeI threats; Gunmen kill one policeman in Peshawar; Militant killed in Dera Ismail Khan clash; IMF asks Pakistan to raise retirement age from 60 to 62.

TTP Peace Talks

• According to a Monday article in Dawn, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting with the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Zahirul Islam, the Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, at which they decided to continue peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)and finalize a schedule for the next round of talks.[1]

• On Monday, retired Major Amir Shah, who is also a former member of the government-nominated committee issued a statement disassociating himself from peace talks between the government and the TTP. In the statement, Amir said that some negotiators were using peace talks for their own “political mileage.” Major Amir was excluded from the second government-nominated negotiating committee.[2]

• According to a Monday article in Dawn, Professor Ibrahim Khan told journalists that although the negotiation process between the TTP and the government is underway, no formal talks have begun. Khan added that the representatives of both the TTP- and government-nominated committees should meet with the Chief of the Army Staff and the Director General of the ISI to “understand the military’s point of view.”[3]

• On Sunday, TTP-negotiating committee member Maulana Samiul Haq stated that the government and TTP should focus on pursuing peace talks rather than re-implementing a ceasefire, adding that the focus on military actions and war benefited no one.[4]

• On Saturday, the coordinator of the TTP-nominated committee, Maulana Yousuf Shah, stated that that a meeting between the government-nominated negotiating committee and the TTP’s political shura will likely take place in the next two days, and that this next round of talks will likely be the last. The TTP reportedly asked for two days to determine the location of the meeting between the two sides. Shah also stated that the media, not the government, has demanded the release of the sons of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Professor Ajmal Khan.[5]

• On Friday, the Afghan Taliban stated that they had brokered a ceasefire between Khan Said Sajna and Shehryar Mehsud factions of the TTP. According to a Sunday article in The News, the Taliban brokered the ceasefire and distributed pamphlets throughout Miram Shah, North Waziristan on Friday, which informed people that the ceasefire would be in place until August 12th.[6]

India-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, India tested an anti-ballistic missile which is designed to intercept missile attacks. The test was deemed a success.[7]

• On Monday, Indian troops reportedly fired across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir at Kothra, Kotli district. There were no casualties.[8]

• On Saturday, clashes initiated the day before between militants and Indian security forces in Karewa Malino, Shopian district, Indian-administered Kashmir continued, with a third militant dying in the fighting.[9]

• According to a Saturday report in The News, Jitendra Kumar, a “close associate” of Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate for India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), visited Pakistan earlier in April and met with high-ranking Pakistani government officials including Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.[10]

U.S.-Pakistan Relations

• On Friday, an unnamed official stated that the United States and Pakistan will attempt to revive the stalled reconciliation process in Afghanistan once a new government is in place. According to a Saturday article in the Express Tribune, the U.S. Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, James Dobbins, and top Pakistani officials discussed the topic at a series of meetings during Dobbins’ two-day trip to Pakistan. Washington reportedly wants to agree to a deal with the Afghan Taliban before U.S. forces withdraw at the end of this year.[11]

• On Sunday, Ambassador Dobbins stated in an interview that the government and army in Pakistan are committed to eliminating extremism. Dobbins added that the U.S. is supportive of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to engage in peace talks with the TTP as a strategy to address militants who attack Pakistan, as well as those who operate within Pakistani territory.[12]

Hamid Mir Debacle

• On Saturday, journalist Hamid Mir gave an interview in which he claimed that an “ISI within [the] ISI” was responsible for the attempt on his life last week. He said that he still receives threats against his life, and he believes that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is behind them.[13]

• On Friday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government will not tolerate claims made about the army’s or ISI’s involvement in the attempted murder of Hamid Mir. He added that Mir did not report any threats to his family or to the government before the attack.[14]

Jordan-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Pakistan received five F-16 fighter jets from Jordan. Pakistan is expected to receive a total of 13 jets from Jordan.[15]

Iran-Pakistan Relations

• On Sunday, Pakistani officials confirmed previous reports that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to Iran in early May.[16]

Prisoner Release

• On Friday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan confirmed that the government received a video of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s kidnapped son, Ali Haider Gilani, in which he stated that he was not being held by the TTP. In the video, Ali Haider reportedly said that he will be killed within the next month if his ransom is not paid. This is the first time Gilani’s captors have made contact with the Gilani family since his abduction in May 2013.[17]

• On Sunday, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that he has been in contact with his son’s kidnappers over the past year, but that they wanted the release of prisoners from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, not a ransom, in exchange for his son’s release. Gilani criticized Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for sharing a video of his son with the media before sharing the footage with him.[18]

Militancy

• According to a Monday article in Dawn, police killed a key TTP commander who was responsible for the planning of the Dera Ismail Khan prison break in 2013. Police conducted a search operation in the Kulachi area of Peshawar after receiving a tip-off about the militant’s location.[19]

• On Monday, a hand grenade attack in a seminary in the SITE area of Karachi killed three children and injured several others.[20]

• On Saturday, police and Rangers killed an alleged Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) commander in Lyari, Karachi, and arrested three other people.[21]

• According to a Saturday report in The News, a tribal clash over disputed land, which started on Thursday, left 20 people dead and 17 injured in Datta Khel, North Waziristan agency. The clash was between the Peepali and Madakhel sub-tribes of the Wazir tribe.[22]

• On Monday, a roadside bomb attack on a military convoy in North Waziristan agency killed three security forces personnel and injured three others.[23]

• On Saturday, fifteen mortar shells fired from Afghanistan landed in Mazdak, North Waziristan agency but caused no casualties.[24]

• On Sunday, Pakistani troops defused an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on a road in North Waziristan agency.[25]

• On Monday, unidentified gunmen attacked a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tanker in Jamrud, Khyber agency and injured a driver. Khasadar forces returned fire, and an additional five people were injured in the clash. It is unclear whether the injured were Khasadar forces or militants.[26]

• On Sunday, a bomb blast in Ziauddin, Khyber agency killed a member of the Tauheedul Islam peace militia and injured three.[27]

• According to a Sunday report in Dawn, Afghan refugees and local tribesmen have begun to flee from the Bara area of Khyber agency due to a threat issued by Lashkar-e-Islam to either support the group with funds or personnel or leave the area.[28]

• On Monday, an exchange of fire between alleged drug smugglers and security personnel in Mashkel, Kharan district, Balochistan killed two security officers and injured one. According to one official, the officers attempted to stop drug smugglers who were trying to travel into Iran.[29]

• On Saturday, unidentified attackers in Peshawar killed a policeman and injured another.[30]

• On Sunday, one militant was killed and one security force member injured in a clash in Rordi, Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[31]

• On Monday, a blast in the Guldara area of Peshawar damaged a house, but caused no casualties.[32]

• On Sunday, two rockets landed in Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport causing no causualties.[33]

• On Sunday, police in Chamkani, Peshawar district discovered and defused two IEDs and a suicide vest.[34]

Domestic

• According to a Sunday report in Dawn, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to raise its retirement age from 60 to 62 to reduce the amount of money spent on paying pensions.[35]

• On Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan said that his party would lead street demonstration on May 11 to “build a new Pakistan” and protest what he claimed were voting irregularities in last year’s elections.[36]